The Daily Mail is reporting that for years, HPD officers have listed Mountain State credit hours for “life experience” when applying to take exams for promotions. Some officers have received as many as 58 such credit hours from the Mountain State. To take the exam, an officer must have 65 credit hours, City Attorney David Feldman told the Daily Mail.

Feldman, who was at Houston City Council meeting Wednesday morning, was not immediately available for comment.

The city attorney told the Daily Mail that the school was issuing unofficial transcripts to officers enrolled in its program, which officers were using as proof they had enough credit hours to take the promotion exam.

Among other issues, the Higher Learning Commission’s public notice said Mountain State “has not conducted itself with the integrity expected of an accredited institution with regard to ensuring that its students have accurate and timely information about the status of their academic programs.”

The commission also said the school has not demonstrated that it can plan realistically for the future and lacks effective governance and administration to provide appropriate oversight over all levels of the institution.

A commission spokesman said Wednesday the commission’s accreditation reports are not public documents.

The education page of the Houston Police Officers Union website no longer includes a link to Mountain State but does list a notice that the university is appealing the commission’s decision. The HPOA website previously had a link to Mountain State as far back as June 2003.

The Daily Mail reported that the city does not know how many officers have earned college credit from Mountain State and has no plan to retroactively punish them.